From a judge who has made her mark in the highest court in the land to a motorbike-riding rogue from the dirt tracks of country NSW who has conquered the world, and many high-achieving Australians in between- this year's Queen's Birthday honours list celebrates, as it does every year, the high-profile as much as the lesser-known, from the big end of town to hundreds of quiet-achieving community workers.

Australians feel ''deep affection'' for the Queen and becoming a republic is a long way down the Labor Party's list of priorities, the Foreign Affairs Minister, Kevin Rudd, has told BBC Television in London.

The crossbench MP Bob Katter has called for a more ''moderate'' approach to poker machine reform, warning that proposals by the Tasmanian independent Andrew Wilkie would ''destroy'' many clubs in his electorate.

Who is Labour listening to when it comes to policy?Senator John Faulkner last week for setting its policies based on focus groups tapping public opinion, instead of heeding the voices of its own members. He warned that Labor risked losing a generation of supporters and voters if it did not listen to its inner voice and accept that internal debate was not disunity.